Regular Season Winding Down for the No. 3 Bulldogs

Apr 14, 2011

The Intensity Is Not, Though, as the Team Prepares for Its Final Regatta Before the National Championship Qualifier

NEW HAVEN, Conn. – The No. 3 Yale women's sailing team will be staying in-state this weekend for its final regatta of the season before the Women's New England Championships. They will be racing for the Emily Wick and Shrew Trophies in a regatta hosted by the US Coast Guard Academy, in New London, Conn.

The Bulldogs' A division boat will be experiencing a little crew rearrangement this weekend due to an overlap with the Coed New England Dinghy Championships where the Yale coed team is forecasted to need heavy-air crews. Sophomore skipper Claire Dennis will be sailing with freshman crew Anna Han instead of her usual crew, sophomore Heather May. May is scheduled to race with the coed sailing team up in Rhode Island in anticipation of strong winds at the coed New Englands which are the first step in qualifying for the Coed Dinghy Nationals. Dennis and Han have been sailing together all week at practice so they should be prepared for the weekend. Also, last time Han filled in last-minute for the Bulldogs they took first place at the St. Mary's Intersectional.

Returning to B division for the Bulldogs will be the freshman team of Marlena Fauer and Eugenia Custo Greig. This team has been putting up some strong results lately, including taking second-place in their division last weekend at the Admiral Aylmer's Trophy hosted by Mass Maritime.

After racing several regattas on the Thames River in the Fall, this will be the Women's first time there in the spring season. Weather forecasts call for strong winds reaching the 20 mile-per-hour range out of the east on Saturday. Sunday's winds are predicted to be in the 15 mile-per-hour range out of the west. Both of these directions should make for quite shifty racing conditions because the wind will be coming off of the land and traveling perpendicularly across the river. In addition to shifts, the Bulldogs will also have to be aware of the current on the Thames River which has the capacity to ebb strongly as the day goes on.

Since this is the final event before the women's New England Championship which serve as the first step in qualifying for the women's Dinghy National Championship, all the top New England teams, including four out of the top five ranked teams in the nation, should be there. Having had a very successful season so far, the Bulldogs are looking to continue the momentum this weekend and all the way through post-season.